WAUPACA COUNTY POST

December 19, 2002

Council Votes to Buy Hendrickson Center

By Angie Landsverk, Post Staff Writer

After months of negotiations, the city and school district have reached an agreement on the sale of the Hendrickson Center.

Last week, the school board accepted the offer from the city, and on Tuesday night, the Common Council voted to purchase the building.

The city will pay the school district $50,000 at the time of the closing on March 1, 2003. The city will then pay the district $10,000 annually for four years.

As par of the agreement, the city will receive the Hendrickson Center, the flats area and a portion of the parking lot.

There will also be an exchange of some property.

The school district will receive properties surrounding the Haberkorn Field complex, including the old softball field.

In addition, the school district will receive sole title to the tennis court complex between Waupaca Learning Center and the middle school, with $40,000 of what the city is paying the district being used to improve the tennis courts.

Two members of the Common Council, Paul Hagen and Yoland Perry, voted against he city buying the Hendrickson Center.

Hagen said there is no final cost to renovate the building. "Second, with the uncertain financial condition the state is in and the uncertain condition of shared revenue, I don’t think it’s a good time to expand liabilities," he said.

He used the county as an example in saying that county taxes increased 14 percent because of a large building they built.

Ald. Chuck Whitman reminded Hagen that earlier in the evening, Hagen had voted in favor of referring action about the Old Armory to the city’s Finance Committee.

The ad hoc committee that was appointed to find uses for the building has recommended that the Old Armory be remodeled on the interior and exterior and be made handicap accessible for multipurpose uses and use by the police and fire departments in the future.

Whitman voted against the idea, saying the fire department has been on record stating that it is not feasible for the fire department to expand there.

When the city’s Finance Committee meets in January, it will make a recommendation on short-term repairs.

Whitman said the city will spend more money on the Old Armory than it will have to spend on the Hendrickson Center and that the Hendrickson Center will get more use.

Hagen noted that there has not been a vote to spend a significant amount of money on the Old Armory.

Perry asked how long the Hendrickson Center will be used before the city will want to build a new facility for youth and believed it would make more sense to begin saving now for the construction of such a facility.

Park and Recreation Director Jim Ash said the Old Armory and Hendrickson Center are both already being used and that more space is needed.

Mayor Brian Smith said if the city spends money on the Hendrickson Center, it will meet the needs of the city for a long time.

Perry said she had heard comments from people about why taxpayers should have to pay for something they have already paid for in the past.

Smith said he does not disagree that taxpayers have already paid for the Hendrickson Center.

"When we started out, they wanted it for $1 million. We thought we should have gotten it for nothing," Smith said. "I guess you have to look at both sides."

The mayor believes they reached a good agreement.

Before the council voted on the purchase, Ald. Dan Wolfgram asked if the sale will affect commitments this spring, such as prom and the art show.

City Administrator Henry Veleker said project designing for renovating the building will occur through the spring, so the city does not believe construction work will conflict with such commitments.

The agreement between the city and school district also gives the district first option to purchase Lakeman Field and the old bus garage and adjacent land on Harding Street should the city decide to sell those buildings in the future.